


Sad Human(?) Hours

by celestialriptide



Series: The Totally Average Adventures of Everyone Being Entirely Human and Normal [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron)-centric, because keith deserves some gosh darn cuddles, college students will accept anything, i mean uh it's sad human hours this is a human au!!!, it's sad galra hours, round planet to soothe the soul, starts with a cuddle pile ends with more cuddles, theyve seen worse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 20:25:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16839787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialriptide/pseuds/celestialriptide
Summary: He shouldn't be slipping around them as much as he does, but they don't blink twice at him regardless of how he looks. He likes to think that, college students or not, they accept him. Maybe he's being stupid, but even Lance has stopped asking about it.





	Sad Human(?) Hours

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys welcome back to this au, merry christmas. in fact, legit happy holidays because i imagined this one takes place _the same night_ as "this has happened before", but there's nothing here that references it so don't worry if you didn't read the other one too. they got stuffed full of holiday cookies and passed tf out

Keith woke slowly, feeling lethargic from a lazy day in with the others. His mind was sluggish, a sure sign that he'd been asleep longer than he normally would have, or at a time that he shouldn't have. He shuffled slightly, trying to burrow back down into sleep but was met with resistance, multiple bodies holding him tight until he settled down again. He let out a slow, deep breath and felt it resonate in his chest, rumbling slowly in a content way that didn't want to stop once it began. 

Trying not to move too much, he stretched out his back as much as he could, yawning largely into the dark. He was warm, and it was peaceful, and he didn't want to move from wherever he had woken up. He knew that, eventually, the warmth would pull him back into a light rest, or he would be forced to pull himself out of whatever situation he'd gotten himself into and quietly start his day. As he settled back down, there was a soft noise against his ear, and he felt it flicker annoyingly in response. He tried to ignore it, curling into himself as much as he dared without disrupting anyone else. He didn't want to move, didn't want to get up even though his body seemed to think that he should, knowing full well that he would have to take a nap later if he did. He wonders how his mother managed it, and without the advantages he has too.

He can feel the blank emptiness of sleep tugging at his mind when there's a shift against his back, and then another soft breath against his ear. It flickers in response, then again, and again. Again. He groans as quietly as he can, and brings a hand up to rub against his face. Forcing his eyes open finally, he uses a hand to push himself up and look around the room to take stock of the situation. Two arms fall around his waist, and he follows the one that isn't still gripped tight against his shirt first. Matt is curled up at his side, a leg carelessly tangled with his and his arm draped over Keith's stomach, head pillowed against Lance's stomach. He nods once to himself, then his eyes roam to find Hunk stretched out across the floor just a few feet from them as well. 

There's a soft movement behind him, and he looks back to see Shiro curling around him where he sits, completely erasing the free area Keith had just been laying in. His arm that Keith had been using as a pillow comes to rest against his back, and Shiro's face presses against his side. He supposes it's a sign, if nothing else, that he should give in and get up for the day. Carefully, quietly, he extracts himself from Shiro's hold and pulls himself slowly out of the tangle that is Matt's legs.

Delicately stepping around them, he surveys the room and wonders for a fleeting moment if they're all comfortable, if they're resting as easily as he had been. A grumble rises from his chest at the idea of them not sleeping well, and he has to physically shake the thought away. They'll sleep anywhere, he reminds himself, and if they weren't comfortable they would have woke up too. He thinks it makes sense when he looks at it that way. He lets his eyes adjust to the room for another moment before he darts forward, snatching Shiro's hoodie off the bed and wrapping himself in it. He shuffles as silently as he can through Lance's drawers, pulling out the softest pair of sweats that he owns and wiggling them over his shorts. He makes for the hallway, grabbing Hunk's favorite blanket on his way out. Holding two corners tight in his fists, he wraps it around his shoulders after carefully shutting the door behind him.

He lets the silence of the house wash over him for a moment before padding across the hall to the stairs. He winces as they creak beneath his feet. Halfway down, he catches sight of himself in the mirror that hangs against the wall, and catches himself wondering again why they've hung a mirror up at the stairs anyway. It's probably Lance's doing, but he's not so sure. Maybe he should ask.

He pulls the blanket tighter around himself and steps closer, tilting his head and watching his reflection follow him. He draws his brows down and pulls a face, ears pinning back against his head as he bares his fangs. He laughs quietly at himself as he lets the look fade away. He wonders, a lot like Lance used to, why no one ever questions him. Coran had told him when he brought him here that he wouldn't be the weirdest thing college students had seen. Maybe he'd been right, but Keith can't think of anything that could be stranger to these people than what he is. Maybe college students aren't human, either. Oh well. 

Keith takes a deep breath, closing his eyes to focus. He aches, and he presses his lips together to ignore the pain in his gums. He's not sure what hurts worse; the change to fit in or the change to be himself. It's not like it's an unbearable pain either way, but he doesn't like that it hurts at all. It reminds him how strange he is, an anomaly everywhere. He knows his mom thinks that the change will get easier with time the more he changes back and forth, but he isn't sure himself. 

When he meets his own eyes in the mirror again, he frowns. The color is still his, but the rest of the image doesn't connect in his ind. It's unsettling, looking at the mirror and seeing someone so identical to him- but the color's wrong. The ears are wrong. His mouth falls wrong around teeth that are _wrong_. His hair- he makes a quiet noise, one that should be deep in his chest but comes out low in his throat because he can't make that noise right now. He can't make a lot of noises right now. He hasn't quite figured out how to only change the outside, the parts that people see. He's normal, or he's his normal. There's no in-between right now, but he's working on it. He has to remind himself that he's working on it.

He's told that he looks like his father like this, but he doesn't know if he believes it. His mom is still out there trying to find him again, so who knows if he'll ever know for sure. He doesn't know whether or not it would make him feel better anyway, if it were true.

He pulls his lips back, baring his teeth and squinting at the mirror. He takes a step closer to see better. He can't see as well in this form, and he wonders how humans can deal with being so blind in the dark. He turns slightly, tilting his head to inspect his ears. Small, weird...ugly. Hideous, that's what Allura had called them the first time she'd seen him change, and he can't help but find that he agrees. His eyes track down the side of his face, and his frown deepens as he tilts his jaw closer to the mirror. He stares at the skin there, tracing the path where his mark should be. For a moment, he almost thinks that it's just gone in this form, but if he squints he can just barely make it out. It's only a few shades lighter than the rest of his face, and in the dark like this it's hard to see. His frown falls into a pout, and he turns away from the mirror as quickly as he can. He never wants to see a mirror again, not like this.

Keith continues down the rest of the stairs as carefully as he can, mindful of the quiet creak they make. He wiggles one arm out of his blanket to grip the banister as tightly as he can, squinting at the ground and focusing on not missing a step. Maybe he should have waited until the sun was up to change, bu he knows that he needs to get more used to this form. Even if he is with his friends, with people Allura and Coran say he can trust. He shouldn't be slipping around them as much as he does, but they don't blink twice at him regardless of how he looks. He likes to think that, college students or not, they accept him. Maybe he's being stupid, but even Lance has stopped asking about it.

He only looks up once he reaches the last step, his hand coming back to fist into his blanket and readjust it once more. There's a soft light flickering from the living room, so he follows it being careful of how much noise he makes. At least he knows that no matter his for, he can be as silent as he needs to. He isn't surprised to find Pidge stretched out on the couch with her feet on the coffee table, leaning heavily into the arm rest with her chin propped in her hand.

"What are you watching?" He isn't exactly quiet when he asks, but to her own credit she doesn't jump. She barely even moves, tilting her head just enough to look at him. Then she smiles, and her focus moves back to the television.

"Round Planet." The name catches Keith's attention, and he wonders _which_ round planet it could be about. Aren't most planets round? It takes him too long to realize it probably means Earth. She moves slightly, melting back into the couch and patting the space beside her. "Come watch with me, alien boy. You might learn a thing or two."

He's not sure if she actually knows that he's not all human or not, but he does know that if any of them were to finally put two and two together it would be Pidge. He'd overheard Hunk and Shiro talking once, so he knows they think it's some sort of costume. He's pretty sure everyone does. He doesn't want them to know the truth, not yet at least. He isn't ready to fully admit to anything. He does smile, though, and roll his eyes.

He pads towards the couch slowly, eyeing the space Pidge isn't taking up. He puts one knee up on the cushion, midway between Pidge and the other armrest, then opens his blanket and lays down, stretching out with his head in Pidge's lap like he would with Lance or Shiro. He feels her tense against him, and he focuses on the t.v. instead. It only takes her a moment to relax, but it's long enough for him to confirm that yes, Round Planet is about Earth, and then her hand is falling against his head. He can't hold back the pleased sigh that escapes him as her fingers thread through his hair.

He wants to ask why she's awake so late, especially when she's human and extensive research (in the form of the four still asleep upstairs) has told him that they aren't generally found awake at this hour, but his stolen clothes are comfortable, and Hunk's blanket is warm, and the fingers against his scalp are the most comfortable ting he's ever felt in this moment. He tries to focus on the t.v., but the words are lost on him as his eyes start to slip shut. If he falls asleep, no one will blame him. And if he wakes up later to the knowledge that Pidge is absolutely as much of a cuddler as her brother is, and Lance promising to send him pictures of it later...Well, then he thinks that will be just fine, too.

**Author's Note:**

> i aint ever gonna be done with this au, even if it does take me a while to get something out. i have another one already planned tho, probably taking place in the same holiday vein but idk, but it's definitely about lance talking to keith about being purple sometimes again. 
> 
> anyways thanks for reading, feel free to drop a comment or @ me over on twitter (astralundertow) or tumblr (celestialriptide), and tell me what you think?


End file.
